Spark arrester



L. R PYLE SPARK ARRESTER Dec. 4, 1934.

Filed March 15, 1953 Patented Dec. 4, 1934 curren- OEEIQE .1 .S ARK ARItESTER .Leslie R. FY 9 Chicago, Ill., assignor to Locomo- Y tive Firebox Company, fi m; s t-Del Qhicago, 111. a corpora- Application March 15, 1933,;Serial No. scaszs e Qlaims. (o1. acn -97) ....p'ass.under. the casingan'd then haveto'jtake a reverse path before .entering the inlet of the easing. With such an arrangement, the draft created in thecasing and which worked upon the l'e'nds. of the .fiues, is set up .or started close. to the front end door. Thus allproducts [of] combus ...ltion' have totake a long. and tortuous path and this requires considerable draft; .Again, this arrangement required the blocking" off of fthatpart of thesmoke boxin which are *1 located steam pipe and nozzle stand j oints... .When

.. iisuch joints leaked, they interfereddirectly with the .draft. action; and the steamcapacity was effected accordingly. .Thus,,. pressure tight ,joints Wwere. there required Again, special air tight .Wjointswere also required at those points where thelsteamifeed pipes for thecylinders passed .through'the'smoke boxshell. 1- .Hefetofore. certain parts of the arrester casmg weresub-jectto wear and one of these places was the bottom of the casingwithin the circle of the. race ring. The otherof .theseplaces was the I .5 inside extension for the stack and this wear soon H L, .producedholes. Theseholes require repair servg'ice .otherwise live, cinders are short, circuited' therethrough to thestack andd scharged out of the. same under draft action.

O'neo'f the objects of thqpresent. invention is" to provide a spark arrester of thiskind. which though'simple. in construction, is more eflicient in operation and materially shortens up the pa'th'necessary for'the products of combustion and reduces the necessary draft action. I

'A further object of the invention is to provide a spark arrester of this kind, which reduces fuel consumption and back pressure and increases the steaming and hauling capacity of the associated. locomotive as well as its speed.

' Still another object of the invention is to pro-..

spark arrester of this kind whereini-mpaired draft due to air leaks in the smoke box and steam leaks in steam pipe and exhaust stand base are eliminated along with all draft sparks. I

above mentioned objects of the invention well as others, together withthemany ad embodying'my improved spark arrester;

' they are harmless and inc ap b taf vantages thereof will more fully V appear ,as I proceedwith myspecificati'o'n. In the drawing':""" Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the smoke box end" of a locomotive boiler Fig. 2"is a horizontal fragmentary sectional view through the same as takenon the line2--2 of Fig.1.

In general, my improved spark arrester comprises a separator casing-suitably supported in thesrhoke box withits axis coincident with that o'ffthe stack and nozzle which terminate within the casing. Said casing is provided. with an inlet mouthwhich is located somewhat adjacent to and faces the flue'sheet forming the rear. end of the smoke box. Preferably'the inlet forlsaid casing is of an area greater than'the combined area of the tubesand fiues opening through. said sheet. In said inlet are provided'deflectors, which give initial direction to the products, of combuse tion as they enter the casing.

Between the inlet end of the casinggand the adjacentparts of the smoke box shellfi'sapaffle or wall which in connection with theadjacjent flue sheet provides a chamberfwith which said inlet Furthermore.said,baff1 e'.j.,effec- "ftively "blocks off that part of the). smOke..bQx in communicates.

which 'certairfsteam pipe and ,othenjoints are :locat'edso thateven though said joints leakthere is no interference with" draft action. 1

As the inlet for. the separator .casing faces generally in the directionof the hue sheet, the products of combustion leaving the tubes and flues in said sheet, take the shortest straightest path into the, separator casing; When said casing, draft action in connection with the deflectors mentioned causes the products of combustion to-take asubstantially oircular,path in their passage, between said inlet, the stack extension. Thus the larger particles the of are ground down and extinguished by, V, I with each other andbytheir engageme twith the inner surfaceof the casing and are fthen entrained by the drafhaction up theistack to be discharged therefrom in a nanner wherein a w yside; fires. V t. Referring, now in detail to thaternbgdiment .:of the .inventionillustrated in theacco rnpanying drawing, 1 indicates as a whole thetubula ibody of the smoke box shell, suitably oconnected at its rear'end to the front endof the boiler shell 2 in any suitable manner. 3 indicates thesmoke box (front having the usual door 4 therein.

Ii i

ward the side 17 of the casing.

a suitable distance up into the stack barrel. The

bottom end of said stack extension is flared as at 9. s

The exhaust stand or pipe is indicated'at 10. This stand or pipe rises from the bottom of the smoke box shell in line with the stack Sand is flanged at its top end as at 11 to receive the like flange 12 of an exhaust nozzle or tip 13 of any .approved kind.

In the smoke box shell is located a cyclonic sepa rator casing 14. Said casing includes an upright rounded front end wall 15, upright parallel side walls 16 and 17 respectively and flat horizontal 25 top and bottom walls 18 and 19 respectively. This casing is open at the rear so as to provide an inlet 20 which faces in the general direction of the flue sheet and is of a height and width approximating the height and Width of the casing. In said inlet are provided upright, laterally spaced deflectors 21, 22 and 23 respectively arranged to direct the incoming products of combustion to- Associated with the side 16 of the casing is an upright segmental wall 24 curved to form a continuation of the rounded front wall 15 of the casing. This segmental wall which extends from the top to the bottom of the casing includes an angular deflector wing 25 disposed parallel with the deflector plates 21, 22 and 23.

Preferably the several walls of the casing are made in sections for ease in installation and are suitably secured together in air tight relation so as to have no leakstherein.

The bottom wall 19 of the casing is provided with a depressed flange 26 which is disposed between the flanges 11 and 12 of the pipe and nozzle respectively, to there provide a tight joint.

Rising from said bottom wall is a race ring 2'7- of a diameter approximating that of the bottom extremity of the flared end 9 of stack extension 8.

Surrounding the stack extension is an angle bar ring 28 and secured to said stack extension within the casing a short distance below the top thereof are angle brackets 29. Draw bolts 30 extend through said brackets and ring and through the top wall of the casing and when the associated nuts 31 are drawn up, the casingand stack extension are tightly secured together at this point. I

A transversely extendingwall'32, is provided between the rear end of the casing andsurrounding part of the smoke box shell and divides the smoke box into front'and rear compartments 33 and 34 respectively. In this respect it is pointed out that the inlet 20 for the casing which has an area somewhat greater than the combined tube or flue end area, opens into the rear com.

between the casing 14 and smoke box shell for the steam pipes 36 that lead to the cylinders. These pipes have a flanged connection 37 with superheater headers 38 in the compartment 34 of the smoke box and which headers extend through suitable openings provided therefor in the wall 32.

During the operation of the locomotive, draft created in the casing by exhaust nozzle action operates directly upon the flue and tube ends opening into the compartment 34. Thus the products of combustion take a short, direct path into the casing through its inlet. As said products enter the inlet, they are directed by the deflectors toward the side wall 17 thereof to follow around the rounded front end thereof and segmental wall 24 so as to set up a whirling or centrifugal action and thus take a substantially circular path. By reason of this action, the heavier particles of the products of combustion are not only maintained in engagement with said walls but they collide with each other so that theyrare broken and worn down to smaller particles. These smaller particles being the lighter: are gradually forced in toward the flared end 9 of the stackextension to be entrained in the blast up the extension for discharge as harmless particles out through the stack.

With such an arrangement it is to be noted that no draft action is present in the compartment 33 so that even though there be air or steam leaks into this compartment, there is no interference presented to the draft action in the casing. As the flues open directly into compartment 34, all flues are operating at an equal rate so thatthe initial draft required is much less. Therefore it is possible to open up the nozzle and maintainthe same draft in the firebox and at the same time this decreases the back pressure. and increases locomotive speed with a given steam chest pres:

sure.

Even though holes develop in the casing that open into the chamber 33, no ill effects are presented and no live sparks can'be discharged up the stack. In all, the improved arrester increases the efliciency of the locomotive, saves fuel, is sub ject to less wear, costs less to install and does not require that all fittings in the chamber 33 be of the most expensive kind so as to remain leak tight because no interference is set up even'though leaks be present. 7

While in describing the invention, I have referred in detail to the form, arrangement. and construction of various parts thereof, the same is to be considered merely as illustrative of. the preferred embodiment thereof and therefore I do not Wish to be limited thereto except as may be specifically set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

' 1. In combination with a smoke box, ,a flue sheet at one end thereof, means providing a centrifugal action chamber in said smoke box having an inlet opening facing generally toward the flue sheet, a baffle wall between said casing and smoke oox shell and arranged to isolate the inlet from the front portion of the smoke box, a smoke stack having an extension opening into said casing to terminate in a plane between the top and bottom of thelinlet, and an exhaust nozzle associated with said stack and also opening into said casing in a manner coacting with said stack extension to induce a centrifugal draft action in said casing. I

,2. In combination with a smoke box, a flue sheet at one end thereof, a smoke .stack having an extension arranged in the smoke box, an exhaust nozzle in the smoke box in line with said stack extension, means providing a perpendicularly disposed, centrifugal action separator casing in said smoke box having an inlet end facing generally in the direction of said flue sheet, and a baffle wall between said casing and smoke box shell and arranged to isolate said inlet of the casing from the front portion of the smoke box, said stack extension and nozzle projecting through opposite ends of the casing and coacting to induce a centrifugal draft action in said casing the stack extension terminating in a plane between the top and bottom of the inlet.

3. In combination with arsmoke box, a flue sheet at one end thereof, a smoke stack having an extension arranged in the smoke box, an exhaust nozzle in the smoke box in line with said stack extension, means providing a perpendicularly disposed, centrifugal action separator casing in said smoke box having an inlet end facing generally in the direction of the flue sheet, deflector plates in said inlet for directing incoming products of combustion toward one side of the casing, and a baffle wall between said casing and smoke box shell and arranged to isolate said inlet from the front portion of the smoke box, said stack extension and nozzle projecting through opposite ends of the casing and coacting to induce a centrifugal draft action in said casing the stack extension terminating in a plane between the top and bottom of the inlet.

4. In combination with a smoke box, a flue sheet at one end thereof, a smoke stack having an extension arranged in the smoke box, an exhaust nozzle in the smoke box in line with said stack extension, means providing a perpendicularly disposed, centrifugal action separator casing in said smoke box having an inletend of an area approximating the combined area of the flues opening through the flue sheet and facing in the general direction of said flue sheet, means associated with said inlet for directing the incoming products of combustion toward one side of the casing, and a baffle wall between the casing and smoke box shell and arranged to isolate said inlet of the casing from the front portion of the smoke box, said stack extension and nozzle projecting through opposite ends of the casing and coacting to produce a centrifugal draft action in said casing the stack extension terminating in a plane between the top and bottom of the inlet.

5. In combination with a smoke box, a flue sheet at the rear end thereof, means for closing the front end of said smoke box, a partition in said smoke box dividing the same into front and rear compartments, a centrifugal action separator casing in said front compartment and having an inlet at its rear end opening through said partition so as to communicate with said rear compartment and to face toward said flue sheet, a smoke stack having its bottom end extending through the top of the casing to terminate in a plane between the top and bottom of the inlet, and a nozzle opening through the bottom of said casing and coacting with said extension in inducing a. centrifugal draft action in said casing.

6. In combination with a smoke box, a flue sheet at the rear end thereof, means for closing the front end of said smoke box, a partition in said smoke box dividing the same into front and rear compartments, a centrifugal action separator casing in said front compartment and having an inlet at its rear end opening through said partition so as to communicate with said rear compartment and to face toward said flue sheet, means in said inlet for directing the incoming products of combustion toward one side of they casing, a smoke stack having its bottom end extending through the top of said casing to terminate in a plane between the top and bottom of the inlet, and a nozzle opening through the bottom of the casing and coacting with the extension in inducing a centrifugal draft action in said casing.

LESLIE R. PYLE. 

